On Monday (Jul 3), China’s commerce ministry announced that it would implement export controls on certain metals widely used in the semiconductor industry. The purpose of these controls, according to China, is to safeguard national security and interests. Under the new regulations set to take effect from August 1, exporters will be required to obtain permission before shipping specific gallium and germanium products.
The controls will cover eight gallium-related products, including gallium antimonide, gallium arsenide, gallium metal, gallium nitride, gallium oxide, gallium phosphide, gallium selenide, and indium gallium arsenide.
Six germanium products will also be subjected to these controls, namely germanium dioxide, germanium epitaxial growth substrate, germanium ingot, germanium metal, germanium tetrachloride, and zinc germanium phosphide.
China’s commerce ministry emphasized that exporters will need to go through procedures to obtain export licenses to ship these targeted metals.
